Championing diversity
In 2009/10, we set clear objectives and business aims in order to champion a diverse and inclusive workplace, including:
- widening our talent pool by attracting more diverse applicants
- increasing the number of women and BAME people in
underrepresented roles and reflecting the locations and the communities
which we serve
- attracting more great candidates into the rail and engineering sectors.
Equality and diversity action plan
In 2010 we appointed an equality and diversity manager and have begun
the roll-out of a comprehensive equality and diversity action plan.
This includes:
- monitoring progress against a suite of diversity measures including gender, ethnicity and age
- developing an online e-learning programme on diversity awareness for line managers
- reviewing and revising recruitment practices and training in line with our equal opportunities policy
- developing early engagement and targeted recruitment initiatives to attract more BAME candidates and women into our sector
- working with the race diversity campaign Race for Opportunity.
Gender diversity
Increasing gender diversity is a challenge across the rail and
engineering sectors. Women make up a large talent pool that is
significantly untapped, with women comprising just nine per cent of UK
engineering professionals compared to 26 per cent in Sweden, 20 per cent
in Italy and 18 per cent in Spain (source: UKRC).
Since 2008 we have been carrying out internal research to help us
better understand why more women do not apply for certain jobs, like
signalling. In January 2010, we launched a campaign to encourage more
women to consider a career in rail. Our ‘Jobs for the Girls’ campaign
contributed to a promising 84 per cent rise in female applicants for our
apprentice scheme this year.
Cultural diversity
We recognise that the rail industry has traditionally appealed to a
white male demographic, so this year we carried out targeted recruitment
for our new National Centre which will open in 2012. This has seen a
significant number of BAME applicants at 27 per cent with 18 per cent
appointed to roles. We will continue to develop our recruitment
advertising in order to attract a diverse mix of applicants.
Our award winning apprentice scheme has gone from strength to
strength with the number of BAME applicants up by 32 per cent. The
number of BAME graduate applicants continues to rise, up 30 per cent
from last year, with an expected intake of 26 per cent in 2009/10.